Did you know your body is always in one of two modes?

Growth and Nurture Mode: in this mode, all the body’s energy and resources are going into self regulating and healing – into your immune responses, digesting food, cleansing the blood, repairing cells, learning, self-expansion, and so on, and so on..

Protective Mode (“Fight or Flight mode”): in this mode, all your body’s energy and resources are going into immediate survival – blood pressure rises as the heart pumps harder and faster, blood is directed into the limbs, (so you can flee from danger or fight against it) and directed from the thinking part of your brain into the ‘primal responses’ part of the brain, so you don’t stop to think when you really need to take action! The body’s resources in this state are diverted away from less immediately important activities, such as digestion, the immune system etc. This is a very important capability of our bodies, as it enables us to get out of the way of oncoming buses without stopping to wonder whether or not we should!

However, we can become stuck in this protective mode, as in a modern world our stresses are no longer ‘lions and tigers’ but mortgages, commuting, breaking up of relationships, global warming, economic recessions, childhood abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, environmental toxins, and so on and so on….as we find that this stress is linked to our dis-ease it is important that we find ways of dealing with it effectively.

My highest priority in my work is to facilitate people back into Growth and Nurture mode, so that these everyday stresses affect you less and less, and your body gets back on with the job of keeping itself well.